The Boothbay Region High School boys tennis team picked up two more decisive wins last week, putting the finishing touches on the best BRHS boys tennis season in recent memory. Undefeated at home, the Seahawks ended the regular season 10-2.

At Mountain Valley on May 15, BRHS won 4-0. At first singles Nick Gorey led Yanik Hosfeld 6-4,1-1 before the match was stopped due to rain. In the other singles matches, Sam Schwehm trounced Travis Ford 6-0, 6-1 and Brady Duncan won easily against Andrew Boucher, 6-2, 6-3.

In first doubles, the team of Ethan Walker and Dan Drummond won 6-2, 3- 6, 6-4 against Nate Billings and Connor Woods. In second doubles, Ben Betts and Ray Perry beat Robert Sanders and Jacob Chang 6-2, 6-4.

“It's a long road trip to Rumford, and I find that the weather there is often inclement, either a lot of wind, or rain or both,” Coach Mark Gorey said. “This time out both high winds and rain affected our play and the overall match outcome. The acrid odor of the paper mill adds to our sense of being out of our element.

“While close at times, our doubles teams of Ben and Ray and Ethan and Daniel were able to make crucial mental adjustments and prevail. The Mountain Valley doubles teams were aggressive in getting to net.

“Brady and Sam won their #3 and #2 singles matches, respectively, fairly easily. In the final match, Nick played a tall and talented German exchange student with a big serve; Nick won the first set but a downpour of rain prevented the match from being resolved,” Gorey said.

At home on May 20, the Seahawks won their second match of the season against Wiscasset, 4-1.

In first and second singles matches, Gorey won 10-6 against J.D. Souza and Schwehm defeated Nathan Panarese, 10-3. Duncan lost the sole match of the day to Tom Anderson, 7-10.

With Walker injured, doubles teams saw new pairings but were still able to take both matches. Betts and Drummond won 10-3 against Mason Whitaker and Logan Grover and Evan Stevens and Eli Farnham beat Ridge Barnes and Andrew Walton, 10-4.

Coach Gorey offered the following comments: “Per the tradition of the last home match, four seniors, Sam Schwehm, Brady Duncan, Evan Stevens, and Eli Farnham, and their respective parents were recognized by Athletic Director Allan Crocker for their dedication to tennis throughout their high school careers.

“Due to a badly sprained ankle, an injury sustained on the outside tennis court nearest the high school football field, Ethan did not play at #1 doubles in this last regular season match. Ethan's foot became lodged in one of the baseline cracks. My view is that this court should not be used any further for practice.

“Ben and Daniel, despite not having played together prior, easily won their #1 doubles match. Seniors Evan Stevens and Eli Farnham also won decisively. Eli, playing in his first countable match of the season, did a fantastic job at net.

“At second singles, initially Brady did a great job lobbing bringing his opponent forward and then lobbing him for winners. As the match progressed his opponent no longer came forward. Brady needed to follow approach shots to net more than he did; his opponent was comfortable pushing the ball back from the baseline.

“Sam proved to be much steadier than his opponent, whose shots became erratic. J.D. Souza, also a ninth grader playing at Wiscasset's #1 position, initially mounted a challenge against Nick; Souza is very athletic and quick and was able to run a lot of angled balls down; Nick's powerful approach shots eventually won the match.”

Boothbay now heads to post-season play. Dates and times still to be determined.

Sue Mello can be reached at 207-844-4629 or sumello@boothbayregister.com.